The destructive winds of Tropical Storm Fay and Hurricane Gonzalo, which hit Bermuda this month, has caused hundreds of thousands of dollars damage to businesses, Government building, schools, tourist accommodations, visitor attractions, and to personal properties.

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It was reported earlier this year that during the past six years Bermuda had lost 65 percent of its managed honeybee hives, which is believed to be the result of the dreaded Varroa mite (Varroa destructor), an external honeybee parasitic mite. This mite attaches itself to the bee and sucks what some call the “bee’s blood” which in itself does not kill the bee, but weakens its immune system and renders it susceptible to viruses that are introduced by the mite.

Editor’s Note: The following article discusses scientists who are reluctant to discuss the environmental friendliness of neonicotinoids because of threats to their careers from “true ‘believers and zealots’ hype the neonic risk and use ‘their research to make an issue where none exists, or make it larger to garner press for the ego and funds for the lab.'” Fortunately, there are environmental regulators around the world who are willing to evaluate bee health decline based on the best available science. The views of leading environmental regylatory agencies on bees, varroa desctructor and neonics are available here.

Federated Farmers Bee Industry Group applauds the tough line taken by Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) Border Staff at Auckland Airport. In deporting the couple found trying to smuggle bee products into New Zealand, not only does it underscore how serious Biosecurity is taken here, it could have prevented an economic disaster.

DEERFIELD — It was the early 1990s and America’s honey bees were under attack.

Dan Conlon, owner of Warm Colors Apiary in Deerfield, watched as hive after hive of his fellow beekeeper’s stock succumbed to the Varroa destructor, a parasitic mite against which European bees are virtually defenseless.

The mites, which Conlon said are native to Asia and had probably entered the U.S. as stowaways on a shipment of bees, had launched a full-scale invasion that decimated hives across the country and drove many professional beekeepers into bankruptcy. In just three years, he said, the country lost over 4 million beehives.

Gord Miller, the environmental commissioner of Ontario, said this week bees are the canary in the coal mine. If that is indeed the case, then he might want to rethink the alarm bell he raised in his new report.

Contrary to what the commissioner states, bee populations in this country have been growing for close to two decades and are currently more robust than ever. In Ontario, specifically, the honey bee population has actually increased 37 per cent since 2003. This according to Statistics Canada, which has been watching bee population numbers since the 1920s.

Seven years ago, scientists became alarmed when whole honey bee colonies would suddenly die off — and it was happening at an alarming rate.

At the time, beekeepers began to report that the adult bee populations within a colony would suddenly disappear. In all cases, few adult worker bees were found in or near the colonies. This phenomenon became known as Colony Collapse Disorder.